Austin Tice’s body has reportedly been found 13 years since he went missing in Syria – we’ll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.
The body of US journalist Austin Tice, who went missing almost 13 years ago, has reportedly been found in northern Syria.
The freelance journalist and photographer has not been seen since being kidnapped in the country by supporters of the former Assad regime in August 2012. He worked with a number of major news outlets, including CBS, Agence France-Presse, and The Washington Post, and was reporting in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, when he went missing. A video released weeks after Mr Tice went missing showed him blindfolded and held by armed men and saying “Oh, Jesus.” The Assad regime publicly denied that it was holding him. The US government – which has always maintained an official position that he is still alive – offered a reward of up to $1 million (£750,000) for “information leading directly” to his “safe location, recovery, and return”.
Sources from Sky News Arabia today said his body had been “found in a cemetery in northern Syria”, believed to be located near the city of Aleppo.
There has been no official confirmation from Washington DC regarding the identity of the remains.
It came after a Qatar-led recovery operation began work in Syria this week, with the team so far said to have found three bodies.
Hopes had been raised of finding Austin alive following the fall of the Assad regime last December.
Then-President Joe Biden said the US government said at the time that he believed Austin was still alive, adding that Washington was committed to bringing him home.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Biden said: “We think we can get him back”.
Austin’s mother, Debra, also claimed to have received information suggesting he was alive.
She said: “He is being cared for and he is well — we do know that,”
The journalist, who had also served as a marine in the US Army, was last seen alive at a checkpoint west of Damascus.
Despite his abduction being linked to supporters of Bashar al-Assad, no government or group in Syria has ever declared they are holding Tice captive.
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